As Fate Would Have It
by Stand And Face The Unknown
Summary: Samantha was a girl who needed more color in her life, until she was unexpectedly transported into a world very much unlike her own; one she knew existed only in fiction. There, she meets a kind hobbit named Bilbo, and together they venture on a quest to send Samantha back to her own world. But as anyone knows, certain events can change minds, and even hearts. Bilbo/OC
1. A Stumble Through Worlds

**This takes place just a few years after the events in ****_The Hobbit. _****I hope you all like it, this is my first attempt at writing in a looooooong time.**

**I do not own anything except for my character, Samantha. Everything else belongs to the late and great J.R.R. Tolkien.**

* * *

I woke up that Saturday afternoon, feeling nothing out of the ordinary. What I did feel, however, was the usual regret and despair from having wasted yet another day of doing nothing. For months I had been trying to find a job, and all of it in vain. I must have applied to over twenty different businesses in the last two weeks alone, and not even a phone call.

I sighed heavily as I sat up. What was going to make this day any different? I had horrible luck, and it would stick with me forever. I had to remind myself daily to keep applying and calling the recent places I applied to to see if they had even received my application. Everyone I called would either tell me that "they'll keep a look out," or "we'll let you know if we want to schedule an interview." Never a clear answer.

As I woke up, I ran through my head what I could possibly do today. I couldn't really do any extensive shopping, since I was tight on money. I had just finished my most recent book last night, so I went to my bookshelf to see if there was another one to pick up.

I browsed the rows and could only find titles I'd read before, nothing new. I wasn't really in the mood to read a book I had read before. So I figured I might as well get a new one. A trip to the local bookstore it was.

As I drove, I let my mind wander. What kind of book should I get this time? Usually I like historical fiction, but I was starting to get tired of it as of late. I wasn't much of a fan of non-fiction, unless it was a historical biography. I figured I would just look to see what the store had and decide then.

I looked in my rear view mirror then, and noticed something in my teeth. I tried to pick it out, but it was stuck pretty good in there. Great. I caught my own eye, and noticed they were especially green today. Must have been the sunlight. My long dark blonde hair wasn't managing well today, no matter how much I had brushed it and straightened it.

I'm not what you might call a "beautiful" girl. I'm a bit on the heavy side, and I'm lazy as hell. Since I haven't had work in a while, I had grown used to sitting all day at home, doing nothing. As a result, I was out of shape and flabby. I kept telling myself that I would soon put myself on a weight loss regimen, but even I knew that wasn't going to be happening in the near future.

As my self-loathing thoughts droned on, I finally reached the parking lot after frustratingly dodging crappy drivers. There were a lot of them today, I noticed. Well, hopefully I was going to find a book that would take me away from this hopeless and unforgiving world, if even for just a few short weeks.

I rolled my eyes as I walked into the bookstore. There were some obnoxious teenagers there, and they were basically doing anything and everything that renders as disrespectful to the written word. They took random books and kept holding them out in front of their crotch area, mimicking humping. Disgusted and annoyed, I made my way around a bookshelf to avoid them.

As I browsed for something, I couldn't help but think that civilization was really going downhill, since most youths these days don't appreciate good literature. All they want to do is drink, do drugs, have sex like there's no tomorrow, and make a mockery out of anything that is good in this world. I just hoped that someone might be able to turn the world on its hinges and snap reality into everyone before it's too late.

I'm not trying to be cynical, I'm really not. I had just grown to discover that the world has become a huge disappointment to me over the past several years. We're constantly proud and bragging about the latest technological advances discovered every day, but the human race, it seems, is reversing back to the stone age.

I continued browsing the literature section, and passed by the works of J.R.R. Tolkien. I smiled when I saw _The Lord of the Rings _and _The Hobbit._ I had read the former, and planned to read the latter. I had already seen the recent movie based on _The Hobbit_, and I have to say, I very much enjoyed it. I couldn't help notice the several different covers for that book: the various older looking ones, and the new one with the movie cover art. Usually I don't like it when books change the cover to that of the one used for the film adaptation, but this one I didn't mind.

I went ahead and decided to grab one of the copies with the movie cover on it, and, after reading the enlightening synopsis on the back, I continued to look for any other interesting-looking books. Even though I was growing tired of the historical fiction, I decided to scope for some anyway. But after another ten minutes of looking, I didn't find anything worth getting this time, so I just took my one book (which is highly unusual for me) and proceeded to the cashier.

I once again passed the immature assholes I saw when I first came in, and they were hovering over a Kama Sutra book, laughing at the example pictures. God, I hate children. I was surprised the employees hadn't discovered them and thrown them out for their lewdness. But I ignored it nonetheless, paid for my book, and left.

As I was walking to my car, my phone went off, and checked it to see that I had just gotten a new email. Right as I reached my car, I put my phone away and went to unlock my door, and when I did, the sight I saw absolutely floored me. What looked like a floating whirlpool was in mid-air before me, with a collection of colors swirling around the center slowly, almost calming. It looked kind of like when you dip a wand into that bubble liquid stuff and see the solution swirling around in the middle. I noticed there was a faded image of a big green field within the whirlpool, and the picture was moving around, like a video camera. It finally came to rest on a collection of what looked like houses under hills. I realized in an instant what I was looking at, but before my thoughts could collect, I was rendered paralyzed.

In that instant, I felt the exact same feeling that has been described by every fictional character that has been teleported somewhere: stomach-wrenching, dizziness, a pulling sensation, and a blur of colors flashing past. I couldn't help but think I was either dead or someone slipped me a very powerful psychedelic drug. It felt like several minutes, but really it only took a few seconds, and I found myself forcefully dropped to the ground.

I was huddled in some grass, and every body part was sore. I didn't even want to open my eyes to see where I was. I already knew that I wasn't in the parking lot anymore. I finally did open my eyes, and a very bright sun immediately blinded me. As I waited for my eyes to adjust, I noticed that I wasn't wearing the same clothes I was wearing before. Strange. I also saw that what was my purse had changed into a sort of leather knapsack. And last of all, I was barefoot. But these were not my small, delicate feet. No. There were HUGE, and there was hair all over them.

"Ew..." I muttered to myself as I wiggled my humungous toes. Then it hit me. The thought I had right before that thing sucked me in. What I had seen was something I'd seen before, but not in real life. What I saw was a representation of The Shire from _The Lord of the Rings _and _The Hobbit_. And it looked exactly as it did in the movies.

All of a sudden I was aware of someone watching me. I turned around and saw some small men in similar clothing to the ones I had magically adorned, and they were all staring at me with a perplexed and annoyed expression on their faces. I immediately realized that these men were hobbits. Whatever drugs someone somehow slipped me, they were strong. I stood up and right away succumbed to lightheadedness. I rubbed my sore head, and turned to the hobbits that had gathered to stare at me.

"I am so sorry," I said to them, and I felt my words come out almost like mush, as if I was drunk.

"You-you just appeared," one of the hobbits spoke up.

"Yeah," I replied. "Don't ask me how."

"This has to be the work of a wizard," I heard one of them mutter to another.

"Are you guys actors or something?" I asked.

They looked at one another, confused. "What is an actor?" one asked.

"I'll take that as a 'no' then," I muttered to myself.

Then I noticed that as I stood, instead of expecting them all to be two feet shorter than me, I was roughly the same height as them. I reached up and felt my hair, which is always straight, and found it to be shorter and curly. I then felt my ears, and was shocked to feel them in a larger, more pointed shape at the tops. My hands were shaking as I brought them back down to my sides, and the hobbits standing in front of me now eyed me as if I had just picked my nose.

I tried not to panic, considering I had just been whisked away from my world by a mysterious whirlpool, brought to Middle-earth, and turned into a hobbit. There was no way this was happening in real life. This _had _to be a dream.

"Who are you?" the first hobbit asked me. He was holding a gardening hoe, and I noticed he now had it positioned like he was either defending himself or he was going to attack me. I put up my hands, like when cops point a gun at you.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to harm you," I tried to reassure them.

"Tell us who you are!" a second hobbit shouted, his gardening tool also pointed threateningly at me.

"My name is Samantha," I quickly replied. "I don't know how I got here, but one minute I was minding my own business, and this...thing appeared in front of me, and before I knew it, I was pulled somehow and I just ended up here. Can any of you tell me how I might be able to get back?"

The three hobbits didn't change their defensive positions, but they looked at one another, puzzled.

"And where exactly do you come from, girl?" a hobbit asked.

"I come from a planet called Earth, I live in the country of the United States of America. You might not have ever heard of it," I added, seeing their even more perplexed faces.

"Indeed, we have not heard of any of those places. And do they have hobbits where you live as well?"

I looked down at myself, seeing the hairy feet and simple clothing.

"No, just humans."

"A world dominated solely by Man?" asked a hobbit.

"Um...yes, I suppose," I answered. "Though they are the only race in this...world."

"Then why do you appear to be a hobbit?" one of them asked, and I could tell he did not trust me in the least.

"I honestly don't know, that's what confuses me," I tried to reassure them. "I am normally a human, but once I slipped through that thing, I changed into...well, a hobbit I guess."

After this, they all looked at each other again, and seemed to share a look of mutual understanding. I did not like this, one bit.

"We have decided not to believe you, girl, and have come to the conclusion that you are a hooligan that means to cause trouble for us," the first hobbit said menacingly.

"But I'm telling you the truth!" I shrieked. I was now shaking uncontrollably. I needed to get away, somehow, but I had no idea where to go.

"Silence, girl!" one of them shouted at me, and they all started to advance on me. I quickly looked around me, but I had no idea where to run, and since I'm a terrible runner to begin with, it wouldn't take them long at all to catch me. Plus, the lightheadedness was getting worse, and I could barely keep my balance or even keep myself focused.

"Please, please, you have to believe me!" I was practically yelping as they pointed their gardening weapons at me.

"What is going on over here?" I heard a voice come from behind me, and oddly enough, it actually sounded familiar to me.

I turned around to see who it was, but as I did, my vision swam, my hearing gave out, and the next thing I knew, I felt myself on the ground, and everything had gone black.


	2. A Knight In A Buttoned Vest

**Here's the second chapter! Hope you all like it. Thanks for all the reviews! I'll try to keep this updated as much as possible. I know there aren't a lot of Bilbo/OC fics out there, so I will try my best to make this one worth while!**

**I do not own any places or original characters of Middle-earth. Credit goes to the wonderful J.R.R. Tolkein.**

* * *

Oh God. My head. It hurt. It _really _hurt. But...where was I? I could tell I wasn't lying on grass anymore. No, this was something much softer. A couch, maybe? Or a bed. I tried to open my eyes to see where I was, but as I did, a shooting pain pierced my eyes and forehead as an intensely bright light was the only thing I could see. I quickly shut my eyes again, and waited to fall back asleep, hoping to not be in so much pain when I would wake again.

I became conscious again sometime later, and things seemed to be more in focus and normal than before. I dared to open my eyes once more, and was relieved to see perfectly fine and even more relieved to be pain free. I noticed I was now indoors. How else could you explain a dark ceiling lingering above you?

I looked around, and saw that I was lying on a sofa or couch of some kind, right in front of a blazing fireplace. The room I was in looked like a den or living room from one of those really cozy old fashioned cabins. The fireplace was all stone, and everything surrounding it either looked like stone as well, or wood. The floor was stone tile, with a rug covering the center of the room, and the ceiling was oddly rounded. Apart from the fire, I could smell fresh flowers, baked bread, and roast beef. Clearly, someone must have picked me up after I passed out and brought me here to look after me. Surely it wasn't one of those guys that was about to burn me at the stake.

I tried to sit up, only to find about half a dozen blankets piled on top of me. That's when I also noticed how hot I actually was. I struggled to shove the several layers of blankets off me, and sat up. I was still in my hobbit clothes, and I saw my knapsack/purse lying just a few feet away from me. I decided to get up and search it, just to see if all the stuff I had in my purse was still in this bag.

I opened the top flap and felt inside, but was immediately disappointed to find none of my usual things. Instead, I found a few blank pieces of thick paper, almost like parchment, some feather pens (I remember them being called quills in _Harry Potter_), and a few interesting looking rocks and eating utensils. Well, great.

As I was putting everything back in the bag, I heard footsteps shuffling towards me from a different room, and I quickly shot up to full height (well, as far as hobbit height goes), instinctively on alert. I didn't want a repeat of what happened earlier.

Around the corner came a guy hobbit (I honestly have no idea what to call male hobbits), carrying a tray with tea cups and small cakes. He stopped short when he saw me standing.

"Oh, you're already up," he said, and hesitated. He appeared to be deciding whether or not to come any nearer to me for a moment; he almost looked frightened. I was astonished to see that he looked exactly like the portrayal of Bilbo in _The Hobbit. _After what felt like an eternity, he seemed to have come to his senses, and smiled as he walked past me to put the tray on an end table. He then stuck his hand out to me. "I'm Bilbo Baggins, at your service."

Ah. So this _was_ Bilbo. Makes sense. Considering this, I couldn't help but think this was all some vivid dream. It was probably the most realistic dream I had ever had, though, I'll admit that.

I noticed his hand was still extended, waiting for me to shake it. He almost looked embarrassed for leaving it out that long, so before he had a chance to withdraw it, I hastily stuck mine out and shook it. I didn't want to seem like a rude guest. His hand was a bit plump and squishy, but had a rough texture; must have been from extensive gardening.

"My name is Samantha," I said quietly. I didn't know whether it was or wasn't rude to say "at your service" in return. I decided not to. He shook it all the same, with a small grin on his face.

"Well met, Miss Samantha. I trust you're feeling better now?" he asked politely, rocking back and forth on his large feet.

"Uh, yes, thank you," I replied. "What exactly happened?"

His brow instantly furrowed, and it was obvious he was trying to remember.

"Well, I was walking back to my house, when I noticed a commotion just a few yards away from the road. I then saw three hobbits cornering a fourth, which I found quite odd, since hobbits are usually peaceful people. It was then I noticed that these men are the Riverhill brothers, and they tend to be unnaturally unpleasant to everyone who's less than normal. It's quite unfortunate that you stumbled upon them before anyone else. I assure you that everyone else in Hobbiton is of a more kindly nature."

He cleared his throat nervously before he continued.

"Anyway, I decided to see what this was all about, and could hear that they were displeased with this person for some reason or other (this person being yourself, of course), and before I could interject their harsh words, you turned around to see me, swayed on your feet for a few seconds, then just collapsed on the ground. I rushed over to see if you were alright, and to get rid of those horrible Riverhills. I noticed that I had never seen you around Hobbiton before, and that you seemed to have passed out from exhaustion. So, I picked you up and brought you here to rest for a while. I knew it was a matter of time before you would come to." He finished his little story, and I noticed he spoke in somewhat of a shaky, unsure voice, and he had a little bit of a stutter. I couldn't help but find it incredibly adorable.

"Well...thank you for taking care of me," I said.

"It's my pleasure, Miss. Here, I have tea and cakes for you," he said suddenly, as if he just remembered. He quickly shuffled to the end table with the tray on it to pour me a cup of tea.

"I'd love some," I smiled as he handed me a cup. "And you can just call me Samantha. Or Sam, if you want."

"Well, to be honest, I prefer the name Samantha," he said, rather sheepishly.

"Why is that?" I asked.

At that, his whole face seemed to turn a strong pink hue.

"It's just a lot...prettier than 'Sam' I guess," he answered rather quietly. The poor guy. It appeared that Bilbo didn't have much experience with women.

We both sat down on the sofa and proceeded to drink tea and eat the cakes.

"Well, Samantha is my birth name, of course, but ever since I was little a lot of people have called me Sam," I said as I took a sip. This was some really _really_ good tea.

He just nodded, and I could tell he didn't want to say anything else on the subject, for fear of embarrassing himself again.

I couldn't help but smile at how flustered he always seemed to be. As I nibbled on a second cake, a thought occurred to me.

"Just how long was I out?" I asked.

He looked up at a clock mounted on the wall, and I could see he was calculating the time.

"It was about two and a half hours ago when I brought you into my den," he assured me.

We were silent for a few moments, and I decided to tell him about my odd predicament.

"I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm not exactly from around here," I started tentatively. I had his attention, all the same. "You see, you might find this hard to believe, but I actually come from a different world. And in my world, I'm not a – hobbit, like you all are, but I'm a human girl. A woman."

I stopped for a second to see if he was still following. He nodded his head in understanding. Astonished that he didn't seem confused, I continued.

"The last thing I remember before entering your world was this floating whirlpool that appeared before me. And in it, I saw glimpses of this place, almost like pictures in a book." I knew very well that he wouldn't understand if I said it was like a video. "And the next thing I knew, I had somehow gotten sucked into it, and I ended up here. My clothes somehow completely changed, and I now look more like a hobbit than a human." I hadn't seen myself in a mirror yet, so I wasn't sure if I even had the same face.

I waited for a response from him, fearing he would shun me from his house, claiming I was a lunatic or a witch or something.

"Hmm, interesting," was all he said. He looked deep in thought, his brow furrowed again. He got up then, and went over to one of the book shelves he had in the room. He seemed to be scanning the rows for something, and then he pulled out a certain book. He sat back down with this book and leafed through the pages as I silently waited for him to find what he was looking for.

"Ahh, here we are," he finally said. "It says here that there are certain magical anomalies that rarely appear in different realms and can transport a person between these realms, and in some cases, change their appearance according to the environment in which they land."

What? So this was something that actually existed? I hadn't dreamed it up?

"Wait, so you don't think I'm lying?" I asked, still astonished.

He chuckled. "Oh believe me, I have seen many a crazier thing in my lifetime than what you just described. Our world is riddled with magical occurrences and abnormalities. I can tell that your world doesn't seem to have the same circumstances, or at least, not as often as we do."

"No, we certainly don't," I mumbled.

He continued to scan the book silently, and I wondered if this really was an every day thing for people around here. Intriguing as it sounded, I remembered that this wasn't my world, and I had to return to my own.

"What about finding my way back? Is there a way?" I asked.

He continued to scan the book for a second before saying,"Oh yes, here." He pointed his finger a bit further down the page and read aloud. "'In order for someone to return to their own realm, one must seek the guidance of a wizard to cast a Realm Reversing spell. These spells can be complicated and lengthy for some wizards, so one must be patient before they can return to their home world.' Huh. So I guess we just need to find you a wizard to send you back home."

A wizard? I was actually going to meet a wizard. I felt like a little kid that got to go to the North Pole to meet the real Santa.

"I think in this case we ought to seek Gandalf to handle this task; he's the most trustworthy and reliable of all the wizards, in my honest opinion," Bilbo was saying half to himself.

"Gandalf? I get to meet Gandalf?" I could barely contain myself.

Bilbo stopped for a second and looked at me.

"Wait – how exactly do you know of Gandalf if you aren't from this world?" he asked, his brow in its trademark spot yet again.

"Well, in my world, we have these books that are about this world. In fact I had just purchased a book about some characters from this realm right before I ended up here." I didn't exactly want to say that the book I bought was specifically about him.

"Extraordinary," exclaimed Bilbo. "So you're saying that they have books about Middle-earth and its folk?"

"Yeah, pretty much." I also didn't want to tell him that these books were works of fiction.

"I don't think there are any books here that document your world – what was the name of it?"

"My world is called Earth," I said.

"Earth? Not a specific kind of Earth?" he asked.

I suppressed a giggle. "No, I'm afraid ours is the only Earth in our existence."

"Interesting," he muttered to himself again. "Well that settles it. First thing tomorrow, we will venture out to find Gandalf. I shall have to find out where he was last seen first thing in the morning." Now _he _seemed excited.

"Hold on – 'we'?" I asked, curious.

"Well...I was thinking that I might help you. You know, because you're" – he cleared his throat here – "not from here and all..." Oh dear Lord I think I broke him. But then he seemed to recover quickly and continued. "I'm sure you would love it. See what my world has to offer before you have to return to yours. I promise you, you won't be disappointed."

"I'm sure I won't," I smiled up at him.

We cleaned up the tea cups and cake crumbs and helped him prepare for supper. One thing I loved about the hobbit lifestyle was all their meals of the day. I was definitely one that enjoyed more than the standard three meals a day on Earth. Maybe being here in Middle-earth wasn't going to be so bad after all.

Bilbo prepared a guest room for me for the night, and I was able to take a bath before going to bed. I knew I wouldn't get many opportunities to bathe on this trip, so I was taking advantage of it while I still could.

After I drained the tub, I wrapped a towel around myself and made my way to head back to my room. I stopped when I noticed a mirror, and got a first look of what hobbit-me looked like.

My face was pretty much the same, but thinner. In fact, I noticed when I was in the bath tub that my whole body was somehow slimmer. This puzzled me, since hobbits are notorious for being a little on the chubby side. My hair was the same color, but it was also a bit shorter, and curly. I remember many times when I had wished for naturally curly hair. I had tried to perm it when I was eleven, but it didn't last long because I was told that it doesn't work on someone that hasn't hit puberty yet. Hormones and all that.

After examining myself in the mirror, I opened the bathroom door and quietly made my way back to my room. The thing is, though, is that Bag End, which is the name of Bilbo's house, is kind of on the big side. So needless to say, I kind of got lost finding my way back to my room. A lot of the doors to the rooms looked alike. I tiptoed as I opened each door in the hallway, looking in each one to see if it was mine.

Just then, I heard a door open behind me, and I turned to see Bilbo coming out of what I presumed was his room, and he was wearing his pajamas. They were striped and baggy and just adorable looking.

When he saw me standing there in nothing but my towel, he stopped abruptly and gave a tiny yelp. He put his hand over his eyes to shield him from seeing me in my undress.

"I am so sorry," I said, flustered and embarrassed. "I lost my way to my room."

"Uh, let me help you," he said, still keeping his hand over his face. I could see that it had pink again. He passed me as he led the way, and after turning a corner, I recognized which room was mine. He opened the door for me, politely motioned for me to enter, noticed my state of undress once more, and immediately went to cover his eyes again. I entered the room, and stood in the threshold.

"Thank you, Bilbo," I said, trying not to laugh out loud. "I'll try to remember my way next time."

"At your service, Samantha." I noticed that when he said my name, his voice got a bit quieter.

"Well, good-night," I said as I started to close the door.

At that, he put his hand down and dared to look at me. "Good night, Samantha. Remember to be up bright an early."

"I plan to," I said. Despite this awkward encounter, he was still being a perfect gentleman (gentlehobbit?). I admired him for it.

He nodded his head and we made eye contact for a moment before I closed the door. In that instant, he appeared to have overcome the fact that I was wearing nothing but a towel, and what I saw was naked emotion. Though to tell the truth, I couldn't quite pin which emotion he was trying to convey. His eyes were soft and kind, and they looked as if they had seen many things, and judging from his behavior, at least some of those things were good. But there was something else in his eyes just then that was more than just politeness, though again, I couldn't figure out what; and even though it was only for a second, there was no way I could have missed it. But then, that might have been because I was paying so close attention to him. Maybe too much attention.

The moment ended abruptly as he turned away and headed back for his own room, and I proceeded to close the door. I leaned against it, puzzled at what I just witnessed. I shrugged it off for the sake of getting the sleep I much needed, and quickly put on the pair of spare pajamas Bilbo had lent me.

As I got into the warm, inviting bed, I tried to set my mind towards the events that would commence tomorrow. Right before I fell asleep, I wondered if anyone at home missed me. I decided at that moment that I didn't really care.


	3. Down the Road We Go

I was surprisingly awake and dressed bright and early the next morning, though Bilbo had still awoken before me. He was in the kitchen, tinkering around to make us both breakfast when I walked in. He was humming an unrecognizable tune as he worked, and I couldn't help but watch him.

"Good morning," I announced cheerfully.

At that he jumped what seemed like five feet in the air and let out a high pitched yelp. The movement caused him to temporarily lose his gripping on a bowl he had been holding to mix dough. He was able to grab onto it before it fell, however, and he put it down on the kitchen counter before clutching his chest and breathing heavily.

"Sorry," I said, trying so hard to hold in a laugh. I had never been able to scare someone so easily before, and it was hard not to take full advantage of that. Oh, the tricks I could play on him...

"It's alright," he said breathlessly. "Just please don't do that again."

"Don't worry, I'll make sure to greet you quietly from now on," I chuckled, and sat down at the breakfast table.

"You know what I mean," he muttered as he picked the bowl back up and resumed mixing. "Anyway, good morning to you, too. Did you sleep well?"

"I did," I replied. I pretty much slept like a baby the whole night. Nothing had woken me or stirred me until I heard birds chirping and the sun started creeping through the window.

I continued to watch him make breakfast, and even offered to help, to which he refused, since I was "his guest, and guests shouldn't have to dabble in the household chores," according to him. He was trying really hard to be polite, and I wasn't about to complain about that.

At last he presented me with one of the biggest breakfasts I had ever seen in my life. He had prepared pancakes with hot syrup, oatmeal with apples and cinnamon, blueberry and blackberry muffins, eggs cooked in almost every single way possible (including omelettes), wheat toast, and heaps of bacon.

"Oh my God," I couldn't help but utter as he presented me with all of it. I looked up at him. "You _made_ all this yourself?!"

"Yep," he answered, and he sounded pretty pleased with himself. He was standing on the other side of the table with his hands behind his back, looking so damn smug. "Well go ahead, try it!" he said excitedly.

I immediately bit into some scrambled eggs and bacon, and felt my mouth melt into mush. Damn, that was good. I knew hobbits could cook, but I didn't know they were _this_ good.

"Man, I wish I could cook like this," I said between bites of pancakes.

By this time, Bilbo had seated himself, and began eating his own share.

"_Do_ you cook?" he asked as he buttered some toast.

I laughed. "Oh, I wish. I could barely boil water."

He frowned. "Well, you should learn. There's nothing more rewarding in the world than being able to cook yourself a meal that is both delicious and can hold you over for quite sometime. Hobbits tend to eat frequently, so I figured if I eat more food in a sitting, I would be able to keep myself full longer."

"That makes sense," I replied. "So where exactly are we going? And when?"

Bilbo swallowed the bite he had just taken and wiped his mouth on a napkin.

"Well, we should leave relatively soon, and I was thinking of making our way to a town not too far from here, called Bree. There's an inn there that Gandalf frequents, so I figured we would start looking for him there."

I nodded my head in understanding. I remembered that place very well in _The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring_,both the book _and_ the movie.

"The Prancing Pony," I said to myself, remembering the name of the inn. Bilbo seemed to hear me.

"Yes, that's the name of it. Did you read about it in that book you have in your world?" he asked me with a grin on his face.

"Yeah," I responded distantly. I was visualizing the scenes that took place there in the movie. Frodo had accidentally put the ring on his finger, the Ring Wraiths became aware of it and stormed the place, while Strider (Aragorn) helped the hobbits to safety. I had to keep reminding myself that none of these events had happened yet, so I couldn't give anything about it away.

"I hope we'll be able to find him relatively soon," I said, escaping my thoughts. "Gandalf, I mean. I don't plan to go on a journey that lasts several months."

"Well," said Bilbo, a little bit of worry lining his brow, "we can never be too sure how long this will take. Wherever we go, we will have to keep asking people if they had seen him, so it's almost impossible to determine how far and long we'll have to venture."

I sighed. "Alright. Also, I really hope that when we do find him, that he'll be able to help me." I sounded a bit depressed, and I jumped a little when Bilbo put his hand over mine suddenly.

"I know it's hard to be away from your home," he said with a gentle voice. "I promise, I will try to assist you in any way possible until you're back safely."

I looked up at him. He had sincerity in his soft blue eyes, and I almost wanted to rush around the table and hug him. But for the sake of avoiding embarrassment (especially on his part), I didn't.

"Thank you," I replied shyly, and he smiled.

He still had his hand on mine, and after a moment of awkward silence, he seemed to have noticed this. He pulled it back quickly, and his face started to get red again. We went back to our breakfast, hardly speaking a word to each other after that.

We cleared our plates, and as Bilbo started to pick them all up to wash them, I offered to help once more, and like before, he refused to let me, so I just went back to my room to get ready to leave.

Within just a few minutes I was ready to go, since I didn't have any cargo with me apart from my knapsack. I waited in the den for him, and when he appeared, I almost burst out laughing.

He had one of the most enormous packs on his back that I'd ever seen. There were pots and pans hanging down from it from all angles, and he looked like he was in a great amount of discomfort from having to carry all of it.

"Alright, I think we're ready to go now," he grunted, trying to shift the weight of his enormous burden.

I couldn't contain myself. "Bilbo, do you really need to bring all that? You look like you're in a great deal of pain." I started giggling then, and Bilbo didn't look too amused.

"The last time I went on a long journey, I didn't take enough with me. I had forgotten my handkerchief, and let me tell you, it was absolute torture to not have it at all times. I kept having allergic reactions left and right and I could do nothing about it."

At this point I was dying laughing. When I had seen _The Hobbit _in the theatre, I remember watching a scene where he had started panicking when he had forgotten his handkerchief.

"And even through all of the events that transpired on those adventures, didn't you ever realize that there were more important things than forgetting your handkerchief?" I asked him.

"Well..." He looked defeated. "I suppose so. But I hate not bringing the things I always need. 'Better to not need it and have it than to need it and not have it,' as my father used to say."

I nodded, smirking like a loon. There was no way he was going to be able to travel with that much on his back.

"Alright, silly, let's go through your things and narrow down what you should and shouldn't bring so it doesn't take us an eon to reach our destination."

After another ten minutes of sorting and arguing over whether or not to bring three pairs of pajamas, we were finally able to lighten his load enough so that we could walk comfortably. He had to get rid of his pots and pans, save for one big pot that he absolutely could not be parted with under any circumstances. I felt like I was traveling with a child.

"Right then, let's head out before it gets dark," Bilbo said somewhat grumpily. "Oh, I almost forgot!" He threw down his bag and ran down the hall. I groaned inwardly. What now?

He came back a few seconds later carrying a small sheathed sword.

"Here, take this," he said, handing it to me. "Just in case. I have one on me, too." He patted a slightly bigger sword hanging from a belt on his hip.

I pulled the sword he gave me out of the sheath and looked at the blade. It was too small to really be a sword. It looked like a simple dagger, except there was some sort of Elvish writing on the hilt.

"I found that along with this sword in a troll cave some years ago," he told me. I looked down at his own sword, and he had started to pull it out. I instantly recognized it as Sting, the sword he had used on his journey with the dwarves. Even though I didn't want to come across any goblins or orcs, I desperately wanted to see it glow blue.

"Thank you, Bilbo," I said gratefully as I slid the dagger back into the sheath. I strung it on my belt, and Bilbo flashed me a quick smile before he picked his up his bag and walking stick.

"You're most certainly welcome, Samantha," he said warmly, and made to open the front door. "After you."

I walked out into the front yard, and we made our way down the stone path, outside the gate, and down the road. We walked in silence for some minutes as I looked around at the scenery. Like the day before, I noticed a lot of hobbits out tending to their gardens, children playing in the meadows, and farmers tilling their soil.

I stopped dead in my tracks when I recognized the men that harassed me, the Riverhills.

Bilbo looked at me, surprised that I had stopped. He turned his glance toward where I was looking, and grabbed my arm, steering me away.

"Come on, you're with me, so they can't do anything to you," he whispered comfortingly. "Besides, I gave them a harsh talking to you yesterday. They have no reason to bother you again."

I nodded as we quickly continued down the road, keeping my eyes fixed forward. At least I now had a dagger to defend myself.

It took quite a while for us to reach the outskirts of The Shire, and by that time, it was late in the afternoon, so the sun was starting to cast long shadows. I was glad that I now had hobbit feet that could withstand rough terrain. If I still had my normal feet, and no shoes, it would have been a lot more painful and uncomfortable to walk.

Along the way, Bilbo and I chatted about general things, mostly habits of humans from Earth, and how we live our lives. I tried explaining it to him as best as I could without sounding cynical, since I had grown to greatly dislike my fellow species. Bilbo, in turn, talked about hobbit behaviors and habits, and we laughed when we found things similar about our two races. We were in pretty good spirits the whole way, and I felt like we were becoming fast friends. He was very kindhearted and he listened to me with unhindered fascination.

The last man that had treated me with the same amount of respect, as far as I could remember, was my own dad. He had passed away just a few year earlier, and I missed him terribly. He was the only one in my family who didn't treat me with contempt or ridicule. I had two older brothers and a younger sister, all of whom regarded me as a worthless waste of a person. My mom hardly did anything whenever my brothers would bully me senseless. And when my sister was old enough, she would endlessly tease me about not being popular, since she was popular herself, and had a new boyfriend every week, it seemed.

I tried to forget all about my Earthly troubles whilst traveling with Bilbo. I didn't want to be moody or depressed and have him worry about me all the time. I kept my focus on the benefits of getting to explore Middle-earth and seeing Gandalf. That was probably what I was anticipating the most. Gandalf was always my favorite character of the books and movies. He seemed like the wise grandfatherly figure that would take care of you, tell you stories of the past, and give you advice – _good_ advice.

By the time we reached the edge of the forest and the outside of Bree, dusk was just starting to make its appearance over the trees. We knocked on the gate, and when the gate watcher first opened the small hatch a few feet above us to look out and see who was there, I laughed inwardly. This was just like how it was in _Fellowship _when Frodo had arrived.

The gate watcher opened a lower hatch and looked out at us.

"Oi! Whatchu little folks want?" he asked impolitely.

"We are here to stay at the inn for the night. We're just passing through," said Bilbo calmly.

After a moment's hesitation, the man opened the gate and let us enter.

We walked through the small town, and we both couldn't help but observe how everyone was rushing around hurriedly. We were in what looked like a market, and since dusk was approaching, all the vendors were shouting out last minute discount prices for the day.

There were a few times when I thought I had lost Bilbo from being separated by a cart or someone making their way between us. After being separated a third time, Bilbo finally just reached his hand out to mine, and motioned for me to grab it.

I'm not going to lie when I say that I felt my heart make a slight jump when I grabbed his hand. I looked at him and sheepishly grinned, and he looked just as uncomfortable and annoyed at our surroundings as I did.

As we continued on, I noticed that there weren't just humans in these parts. I saw a few scraggly dwarves shuffle through the crowd, about a dozen other hobbits, and an elf or two. This must have been one of those rare diverse towns in Middle-earth. As far as I knew, all the races pretty much kept to themselves.

I felt a slight jerk being pulled at my hand, and I saw Bilbo tilt his head toward a building to our left. I looked up and saw the swinging sign of The Prancing Pony. We maneuvered through the crowd until we reached the door to the inn, still holding hands. As soon as we walked in, we were greeted with an abundance of warmth, the sounds of a fiddle being played, and raucous laughter throughout.

We approached the front desk to talk to the innkeeper, and it was unusual to see how high up the counter was. I still hadn't gotten used to being this short.

A man with impressive side burns leaned over the desk and greeted us.

"Good evening to ya, little ones!" he said when he saw how short we were. "Aw, on yer honeymoon are you?"

Bilbo and I looked at each other, both equally confused, then simultaneously remembered that our hands were still clasped together. We both quickly let go, as if an electric current had passed between us. The innkeeper was now eying us in a peculiar way.

"Uh, no..." Bilbo stammered. "We – we're here to stay the night, if you don't mind, and we'll be on our way in the morning."

The innkeeper looked through a large book in front of him, his finger scanning the page.

"Ah, here we are," he said loudly. "I have just the room for you two. Should fit your size perfectly."

"Excellent, we'll take it," Bilbo replied, grabbing a coin purse out of his waist jacket and handing it to the innkeeper.

He took the small bag from Bilbo, emptied its contents on the desk, and inspected them for a few moments.

"Everything seems to be in order," he said finally, and reached behind him to grab our room key. He handed it to Bilbo.

"Thank you," we both said as we started to head our way toward the stairs to the rooms. It was at that moment when I realized how hungry I really was. I grabbed Bilbo's arm.

"Can we get something to eat before heading to the room? I'm famished," I pleaded with him.

He looked about the room, seeing the rowdy company that occupied it, and wrinkled his nose at the sight.

He sighed. "I suppose. It's been a long day, so we might as well eat now before heading to bed."

We found a table, and were able to order ourselves some dinner. After a while, Bilbo seemed to have warmed up to his surroundings, and before long, we each had a pint of ale in our hands, laughing up a storm.

"So I kept tugging on the pole, trying to reel in what I thought was this huge fish, and after several minutes of pulling and struggling with all my might, out pops this tiny little thing, barely three inches long, and the force of it launched me onto my back with a big thump! I remember looking at what I thought would have been an enormous dinner, but instead saw what could have barely passed for lunch!"

I let out another burst of laughter as Bilbo finished his tale, and some of the ale in my mug spilled onto the floor. Alcohol was not something I was ever able to maintain well.

"Oh, Bilbo, you tell the best stories," I slurred, taking another chug of the ale.

Bilbo seemed to be a lot more sober than I was, but then, he had barely taken a few sips of his ale, whereas I was more than halfway done with mine. After a little while, we noticed the room get gradually quieter, and we then noticed how late it really was.

"Oh my, look at the time!" Bilbo exclaimed as he snapped his pocket watch shut. "Let's get to bed. We still have to get up in the morning, remember?"

I groaned. "Alright," I said, defeated. I clumsily got up from the bench, and started making my way to the stairs as Bilbo made to grab his bag. We both walked up the long flight (well at least it seemed long, since I was shorter than I was used to), with me giggling and stumbling the whole way, and Bilbo shushing me.

At last we reached our room, and Bilbo stuck the key in the door and turned it. As soon as we were inside, he dropped the bag on the floor, and started to walk into the room, when he suddenly stopped. I was right behind him, so I bumped right into him.

"Oh no," I heard him say quietly.

I looked around him, and even though there was barely any light in the room from just one lit candle on a table, I saw what had made him stop. And even through my drunkenness I knew just what was so bad about it.

In front of us, instead of there being two separate small beds, there was only a single bigger sized one.


	4. One Too Many Accidents

**Here is the next chapter! I've really liked all the reviews I've been getting. Keep them up!**

**Anyway, I'm sorry this chapter isn't as long, but I promise they will become more lengthy and detailed as time goes on.**

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"No. There is no way we are doing this," Bilbo was pretty belligerent at this point, waving his arms around to emphasize his point.

"Then let me just sleep on the floor and we won't have to deal with it," I repeated perhaps for the twelfth time. I had sobered up a bit by now, but the crushing weight of my fatigue was starting to have its effect on me.

He vigorously shook his head. "Out of the question."

I sighed, exasperated. "Then you can sleep on the floor."

He sighed in return and looked at the floor with a somewhat painful expression on his face.

"If that's the way it has to be."

"Come on, Bilbo. We can be adults about this," I tried to persuade him. "I'm sure if we can be mature about this we can both sleep on the bed without any problems or mishaps."

He was silent for a moment. It was too dark to see what his face was doing, but I could tell that he was considering the option.

"I just...I don't think it would be a good idea," he finally said. "It's just improper and I don't think I would be able to sleep."

"Well how about if we just don't face each other? We can be on opposite ends and pretend there is some form of space between us. Pretend I'm one of your friends and we're just having a sleepover," I offered, hoping he knew what a sleepover was. I just wanted to get some sleep, even if it meant I had to sleep on the roof.

He was quiet again, and I could see him wringing his hands in the subtle moonlight. The candle had gone out by this point; we had spent an awful long time arguing over the sleeping arrangements.

"Fine. Then I'm sleeping on the floor whether you like it or not," I said defiantly, then grabbed a pillow and a spare quilt, and moved to lay on the floor.

"Wait," Bilbo came over to me and grabbed the quilt before I could situate myself.

"What now, Bilbo?" I slumped my shoulders, feeling utterly exhausted by both this conversation and the day itself.

"I'm willing to try it," he said quietly. "If I can't get to sleep in a half an hour, I'm moving to the floor, without question."

"Are you sure about this?" I asked as I stood back up.

He hesitated, then nodded his head.

"Alright," I said, relieved that we finally came to an agreement. "Which side do you want?"

He stared at the bed for a second, deciding.

"I think I'll take this side," he said, pointing to the left side of the bed.

"Okay," I mumbled. My eyes were beginning to shut on their own accord by now.

We had both put our pajamas on separately beforehand, so we were already set for bed. Right before that, however, I honestly thought Bilbo was going to have a nervous breakdown. After he first noticed the bed when we walked in, he was speechless for a few minutes, and started pacing the room. Then, abruptly, he had stopped, and announced that he was going to talk to the innkeeper about this to see if we could get a different room. While he was gone, I changed into my pajamas, and in about a minute, he had returned, looking even more angry than he was before.

"He's nowhere to be found!" he harrumphed.

I laughed. "It's probably because it's after midnight. He has to go to bed too, you know."

After that, I left the room to let him get changed. When I came back in, he was intently staring at the bed, as if he was trying to split it in half telepathically. I'm not going to lie, it was an interesting sight to see.

I'm glad I was able to finally calm him down enough so we could get some much needed rest. We both got into the bed at the same time, and I was reminded of those historical movies where royal couples get married, then awkwardly get into bed for their dreaded wedding night. I chuckled to myself at the thought.

Putting it out of my mind, I quickly rolled over to face away from Bilbo. The window was on the wall opposite me, so I stared out of it at the moon, and slowly felt myself start to drift off.

There were a few times when I was brought back to consciousness whenever Bilbo shuffled on his side of the bed. I looked over at him, and saw that he was as far away from me as he could get. Being hobbits, the bed already gave us a large gap in the middle between us, but Bilbo was so paranoid that he was almost hanging off the edge. At last seemed to have found a comfortable spot and stopped moving, and I turned back over to my side. Within just a few minutes I was fast asleep.

When I opened my eyes the next morning, it took me a long time to realize that I wasn't facing my side of the bed, and that I was lying face up. When I moved my head to see where I was situated, my chin met with something fuzzy. I looked down and almost yelped when I saw that Bilbo had moved from his rigid position of lying practically on the edge of the bed to lying on my shoulder. He was almost in the exact middle of the bed, and his entire body was facing me, almost as if he was trying to cling to me for dear life. His arms and legs were spread out over my body, and his head was cradled in the nook of my arm, between my shoulder and collar bones. He was softly snoring, and his face had a relaxed, peaceful expression.

I started to inwardly freak out. I wanted to get up, so that he wouldn't wake up to see us in this uncompromising position and have a panic attack, but on the other hand, if I moved, that in itself would wake him up.

Bilbo continued to sleep soundly as I tried to figure out a way to squeeze out of this predicament. After thinking for a minute or so, I figured I would just try to slip out of Bilbo's embrace slowly enough that he hopefully wouldn't stir.

I reached my left arm out to grab the edge of the bed and started to inch my way over by pulling myself. I discovered very quickly that this wasn't going to work very well, because Bilbo's head remained on my shoulder, so his body followed mine.

Crap. Now I had to figure out a way to move his head and body off of me without causing complete chaos. I decided just to gamble and take my chances.

I carefully put my hands on his head (hmm, soft hair) and moved him over onto his own pillow. I was surprised at how he didn't stir at all. His breathing didn't even change. _Must be a heavy sleeper _I thought. After I gently placed his head on his pillow, I used my body to move the rest of his over to his side. I froze when he started to move his body himself, but he just grunted a few times before turning over to face the other direction. He didn't even open an eye.

I breathed a sigh of relief as he resumed his deep sleep and heavy breathing. I lifted the blanket and got out of bed as quietly as possible and quickly got dressed. I debated whether or not to wake Bilbo up or just go downstairs to have breakfast. I decided on the latter.

As I walked down the stairs, I could already tell that the tavern was pretty empty. I figured everyone had had a lot more to drink than I did and were sleeping in to cure their hangovers. I didn't have one myself, but then, I had only had a pint of ale, and I hardly think that's much cause for a hangover.

I sat down at a table, and one of the barkeeps waited on me. They didn't have much of a selection for breakfast, so I just had cold ham, some toast, and a glass of wine. By the time I was done eating, Bilbo still hadn't come downstairs and the tavern was now starting to fill up with more people. I decided now would be the time to ask if anyone had seen Gandalf. I walked up to the bar and called the barkeeper over to me.

"Excuse me, but have you seen a wizard come through here recently?" I asked him. He looked at me strangely. I guess he didn't really like it when people talked to him unless they bought a drink.

"Not sure if I 'ave," he said grumpily. "What does this wizard look like?"

I thought for a second. "From what I remember, he wears gray robes. In fact, he's known as Gandalf the Grey. He also wears a pointed hat, has a long white beard, and carries a staff. Have you seen him?"

The barkeeper rubbed his chin for a moment.

"Ya know, I think I might 'ave," he said.

"Do you remember when?"

"Must 'ave been about a fortnight ago," he answered.

"Did he ever say if he was heading anywhere from here?"

He thought again for a moment.

"To be honest, I don't think 'e ever mentioned anythin' to me," he replied.

I sighed. "Okay, thank you for telling me what you know."

He gave me a slight dirty look when I hopped off the bar stool without buying anything.

I walked over to the innkeeper's desk. He was ruffling through some papers, and looked quite bored. As soon as I got his attention, he looked grateful to be distracted.

"Hello there, little miss! How was the room last night? Was it to your liking?" he winked at me. I tried my hardest to keep myself from cracking up in front of him.

"Uh, yeah, it worked fine," I said with a telltale smirk. "I was wondering if you've seen Gandalf the Grey come through here a few weeks ago?"

"Oh yes!" he answered right away. "He was here, alright. He stayed two nights here, and was much of an entertainment for the other guests. Especially with his fantastic smoke rings."

"Yeah, that sounds like him," I commented. "Did he ever mention if there was somewhere specific he was headed for after stopping through here?"

"I do recall him saying something about going to see the elves," he said.

"Elves?" I asked. That revealed _something_, at least, but then, I knew very well that there was more than one area in Middle-earth that housed elves.

"Did he say to what specific elvish location he was going?" I asked, hopeful.

"I believe he mentioned that he would be going to see Lord Elrond in Rivendell.

"Lord Elrond," I said to myself. Now _that_ was another character I was definitely excited to meet. "Thank you so much, sir."

"My pleasure, miss," he said with a smile.

I made my way up the stairs back to Bilbo's and my room. I was so excited to tell Bilbo about my news that I entered the room without knocking, and immediately regretted it.

There was a quick yelp of surprise as I came in and found Bilbo in the middle of putting his trousers on.

"Oh God, sorry!" I gasped as I jumped back out of the room and shut the door. I stood just outside the room, mentally kicking myself for forgetting to knock.

Why did I keep having these accidents with Bilbo? If this kept going, Bilbo would no longer be able to trust me. He was taking me on this journey out of the goodness of his heart to bring me back to my home. The last thing I wanted was for him to start to change his mind about helping me, and then I would be abandoned and left on my own. But not only that, I cherished Bilbo and the friendship and generosity he had shown me. If I lost him as a friend, I would honestly be heartbroken.

I waited for another five minutes before knocking on the door.

"Bilbo, I'm really sorry for walking in on you," I said through the door. "Is it alright to come in? I have something to tell you."

It was several seconds before I heard a muffled "come in" from the other side. I opened the door slowly, and saw Bilbo folding some of his clothes and packing them away into his bag.

"Are you alright?" I asked gently.

"I'm fine," he said shortly. I noticed that he wasn't making eye contact with me. God did I feel terrible.

"Bilbo, I really am sorry. I should have knocked first," I said with a sincere apologetic tone.

He took a long intake of breath and exhaled slowly.

"It's not that," he said, putting the last of his things into his bag and closing the flap. "Though, yes that was a shocking start to my morning, to say the least."

I frowned. _What could he be talking about? _I thought.

"I woke up and you were gone," he said, daring to look at me now. "I panicked. I thought you were kidnapped. You have no idea how worried I was. It wasn't until I went out into the hallway to look for you that I ran into one of the barkeepers, and he told me you had gone downstairs early. I went down there to see for myself and I saw you talking to the innkeeper. Look," he turned his body towards me. He really looked concerned. "I don't mind you going out and doing things on your own without me, but please just inform me whenever you do leave my side. You're not from this world, and I would never forgive myself if anything ever happened to you." I thought I saw his eyes get watery, but it could have just been a trick of the light or my imagination.

I came over to the bed and sat down next to him.

"I promise that from now on I'll tell you whenever I'm about to wander off," I said reassuringly. I dared to put my hand on his. "I'm sorry to have scared you like that."

He looked up at me then, and I wasn't mistaken when I thought I saw some tears. There were a few running down his face.

"Oh, Bilbo, there's no need to cry." I reached over and gave him a hug, and I felt his body tense up for just a second before he relaxed and hugged me back.

We broke the embrace and he rubbed his hand over his face. There was another awkward silence as we both didn't know what to say, but then I remembered what I came to tell him.

"Oh, I have some news for you," I announced as I got up to pack my things. "I talked to the innkeeper, and he told me that Gandalf was here just a few weeks ago. He said that he headed for Rivendell to see Lord Elrond."

"Rivendell?" Bilbo said. I could tell right away that this made him happy. "Oh, how I miss that place. I'll be glad to see it again." He now had a big smile on his face, and we finished packing up our things quickly. We went downstairs to get Bilbo something to eat, thanked the innkeeper for the hospitality (there was a point when Bilbo was about to complain to the innkeeper about our bed situation but I hurried us out the door before he could do any damage), and we were on our way.

We were both now in a good mood, and we walked down the road and out of Bree with much anticipation of seeing the elves, and possibly Gandalf.


	5. A Shelter From the Rain

**I know I promised longer chapters, but I was a bit short on time writing this. Don't worry, things are just starting to get good. ;)**

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For the next few days, everything seemed to go a lot smoother. There were no more awkward moments between us, I made sure of that. I always told Bilbo if I ever went anywhere, whether to get firewood, food, go to the bathroom, and even bathe.

Even though several days passed with nothing but trekking to occupy us, it didn't seem to feel like it was a long time. We tried to find ways to keep ourselves from being bored as we traveled. We would play games, usually I Spy or variants of it, talked endlessly about everything there is to talk about (when I mentioned the lewdness of our society, he had possibly the biggest blush I had ever seen and he went silent for a good long time), sang songs, and even raced each other over short distances sometimes.

We were becoming fast friends, and I couldn't have been more happier than I was on that trip. It's typically hard for me to make friends, so this was definitely something that meant a lot to me. I'm naturally a shy and introverted person, so if I do make friends, if any, they don't usually last. I have acquaintances, sure, but I've never really considered them as friends.

The only thing I was worried about was the fact that I might lose Bilbo as a friend when I would eventually return home. I would never see him again, and I would have to go back to my old, boring life of working job to job and barely making ends meet. I'll admit, I definitely thought about the possibility of not returning home. But anytime I did, I would feel a guilty pang from never seeing any of my family again. I had no idea how much time had passed there since coming to Middle-earth. I was curious to know if it was anything like in _The Chronicles of Narnia_, where you could be in the other world for years, then come back, and only seconds had passed.

If the same amount of time had passed here as it did there, I figured that at least someone might have been looking for me. My mom usually called me almost every few days to check up on me, so I wondered if she had noticed my absence from not answering my phone. The only way to find out was to return home and find out. The only thing was, if anyone was looking for me, I would hate to return when everything is in chaos in the pursuit of finding me. Knowing my mom, she would've gotten the whole F.B.I. on the case. I could almost imagine taking one step back onto Earth and be swarmed by a SWAT team and helicopters shining their spotlights on me, like in one of those cop movies. Obviously I was not looking forward to that at all.

I tried not to let any of my internal thoughts show through while being around Bilbo. I didn't want to worry him, since he is highly apt to it. But anytime I was away from him for anything, or even at night, when we would sleep about five feet away from each other (that's as close as he would get after the incident at the inn), I would debate the pros and cons of returning home. And each time I could never come up with a definitive decision. It caused me to stress out a bit, which is never good for me. I tend to stress easily, so I'd be lying if I said I wasn't used to it.

There was one point while walking with Bilbo that I noticed him mindlessly fiddle with something in his waistcoat pocket. There was no doubt that what he had in it was the One Ring that he had found and taken from Gollum a few years ago. There was a fleeting instant when I wanted to tell him all the dangers of the ring, and persuade him to cast it aside. But then the thought of the unforgettable story that was yet to come stopped me, that and the possibility that it might not happen if I intervened. Since this was a separate, fictional, world, I wasn't sure if all the typical laws of time travel applied; whether or not my doing something could compromise the existence of the events in _The Lord of the Rings_. There are all kinds of movies and TV shows that involve it, and even though there are all different forms of time travel and rules concerning it, the one that always seemed to be consistent was the one about not altering fixed events in time. Since I wasn't sure if this applied to this particular situation, I was afraid to completely ruin everything just by opening my mouth.

There were also a lot of times when Bilbo would tell me stories about his adventures with the thirteen dwarves to Erebor, and I had to constantly pretend that I'd never heard it before. I was afraid to tell him that I knew all of the events of that adventure because where I came from, it was nothing more than a fictionalized story. To tell someone that their whole existence – their whole world – is completely fake and conjured up from the imagination of a novelist, would completely shatter his whole being. It would break his heart. I wouldn't want to be the one to cause that pain. Not to him. I knew very well that telling him would break my own heart.

One day during our journey, Bilbo pulled out a map of Middle-earth that he carried, and started to inspect it. I stopped walking, wondering if he needed to also stop to look at it, but he seemed to be able to keep walking while looking at the map. I remember reading that Bilbo had a fascination for maps, so it didn't surprise me that he could multitask while looking at them.

I walked next to him as his eyes roved over the map, calculating where we were and how much longer we had left to go. Finally, he put his finger over a forestry-looking spot that was labeled as "Trollshaws".

"Here we are," he said, beaming. "We are just about to enter this forest here, and once we reach the other side, it won't be too much longer to get to Rivendell."

"And how long will it take to get through this forest?" I asked, now seeing the tall trees that surrounded and loomed over us.

"Shouldn't take more than a day or two. Not much longer now!" he said excitedly, and began to roll the map back up.

Even though our journey to Rivendell was close to its conclusion, I wasn't looking forward to the bad weather that was heading for us. I had seen a large gathering of storm clouds hovering over some mountains in the distance, and had noticed that they were gradually drifting to the west, where we were. At least we were now entering a forest to take some shelter under the huge trees.

Just as we entered the outskirts of the forest, the sun had begun to set. We both set about finding us something to cook for dinner, and being in a thick forest, it wasn't hard to catch a rabbit after just a few minutes. Bilbo had taught me a few days back how to skin and prepare a rabbit for cooking, and even though I still found it repulsive, I was getting the hang of it.

We ate our dinner, extinguished the fire, and started to settle in to go to sleep for the night. Just as I had pulled my pajamas out of my bag to change, I felt a few wet drops hit my cheek, and within seconds, a few drops turned into a downpour. Bilbo and I quickly packed our things back up and tried to look for a more suitable spot for shelter to prevent us from being pelted by the heavy rainfall.

After walking aimlessly for several minutes and getting soaked, we still hadn't found anything suitable for sleeping under. Even though the trees had thick branches and leaves, the rain still found a way to hit us pretty hard. I was about to give up, and I shouted to Bilbo over the sounds of the thunder.

"Bilbo! There's nowhere we can sleep without getting soaked!" I tried shouting to him.

"I'm sure there's got to be something around here!" I barely heard him yell back.

"If we keep this up, we'll both get sick with pneumonia or something," I complained to him.

He turned around and looked at me. His hair was plastered to his face, and his bangs were so long from being wet that they were almost in his eyes.

"Samantha, please, just trust me, I've been through here before," he said, placing a hand on my shoulder. "I know there's bound to be some place around here that we can stay!"

I didn't respond, but just shrugged my shoulders as he turned around and kept walking.

Eons must have passed before I spoke up again.

"Bilbo, please! I don't think there's any place to-"

"Look!" he cut me off, pointing.

I looked up to where he was pointing, and I could barely see through the heavy rain drops that there was some form of a house in front of us.

We both increased our pace, and before long I could tell that this house was really a tree house, at least five feet off the ground.

Bilbo was the first to the base of the tree, and there was a built in ladder sticking out from the bark.

"Let me go up there first," he said over his shoulder to me. "I'll make sure if there's anyone there or not."

He climbed the ladder, before disappearing inside a trapdoor on the bottom of the floor. Within just a few seconds, he popped his head over the edge of the door.

"It's clear, Samantha," he shouted, smiling. "Come on up!"

Feeling more relieved than ever, I climbed the ladder. My hands were numb, which made it incredibly hard to grab the steps to the ladder, and at one point I lost my grip and almost fell. Bilbo was lightening quick, and grabbed me before I slipped.

He helped pull me up through the door, and on the last step, I hoisted myself into the tree house, almost toppling poor Bilbo off his feet.

As I got up from the floor, I realized that I was shivering violently. Within seconds, Bilbo had pulled a blanket out his bag and placed it over my shoulders. It was miraculously dry, and felt very warm compared to my cold wet clothes.

There was a fireplace in the tree house, something I have definitely never seen before. Before long Bilbo had it going, and I hastily moved to sit in front of it. Bilbo stood next to me, warming his hands. He didn't seem to be freezing as much as I was. But then, I was always sensitive to colder environments, and I wasn't used to being outside for a long amount of time.

"Samantha, you need to change out of your clothing," I heard him say, and I jerked up. I had dozed off in front of the fireplace without noticing. I turned around and saw that he had already changed into his dry pajamas. His wet clothes were draped over a windowsill.

I got up from in front of the fire and walked over to where my bag was. I prayed that everything in it was as dry as Bilbo's. I groaned when I found some of the garments to be a little damp, but for the most part, everything else was pretty dry. My pajamas were too damp to wear, so I had to put on a different set of clothes. It was one of Bilbo's outfits that he lent me; he had made sure I had at least three sets of them before we had left Bag End. I was extremely grateful he had let me borrow some of his clothing. He didn't seem to find it odd that I wasn't wearing the typical attire worn by the hobbit women. When I had first been brought into this world I was wearing men's clothing, so he was probably just used to seeing me in it by now. I didn't mind wearing dresses, but when going on a trip like this, I much preferred to be wearing trousers than a skirt.

I picked out a simple button up shirt and trousers, and was about to change out of my clothes when I remembered Bilbo. I looked up at him and met his eyes, and after a second, he seemed to finally notice. He muttered a "sorry" and quickly turned around. He almost looked like he had been daydreaming. That was something the two of us had in common.

It was hard to peel the wet clothes off of my body, but I eventually got them off. I grabbed a spare piece of cloth to dry myself off before putting on the dry clothes. I tried to be quick as possible, for the sake of Bilbo. I told him when I was done, and he turned back around with a sheepish grin. I took my wet clothes and placed them right next to Bilbo's on the windowsill to let them dry.

I took a moment to look at the room. It was a small tree house, the typical size for a child. There was only one room, with a few chairs situated near the fireplace. Other than that, there was nothing much in the room. It had a bit of a musty smell, and I had seen dust on the mantle, so it must have been abandoned for a while.

Even though we were sleeping on the wooden floor, it certainly felt a lot better than sleeping on the cold bumpy ground. Bilbo and I both found a spot near each other to lie down. He sat up for a little writing in his journal while I started to doze off.

I woke sometime later, having to go to the bathroom. It was still dark outside, but I could see the beginning rays of the sun starting to peak over the mountains. I carefully climbed down the ladder and found a place to go to the bathroom.

As I was walking back to the tree house, I heard a rushing sound behind me in some bushes. I turned to look but didn't see anything, so I kept walking. I heard the noise again, and when I turned to look, the noise immediately stopped again. Thinking it was just a woodland critter, I pressed on.

Without warning, a hand clasped itself on my mouth, and before I could even scream or yell for help, another arm had gripped me around my torso and hoisted me up. Something was carrying me, and all I could do was muffle through the cold hand that was clasped over my mouth.

I tried in vain to shout for Bilbo to hear me, but I just saw the tree house getting smaller and smaller as I was taken by some unseen kidnapper, and Bilbo's face never appeared in the window.


	6. A New Danger

**This chapter took me quite some time to write. I really hate writer's block. But here it is, and I hope you can all enjoy it!**

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I was carried uncomfortably for what seemed like an eternity through the forest. After I had been picked up, I was gagged with a piece of cloth and I couldn't make any noise whatsoever. There were times when my head hit some brush or a tree branch and my face got scratched. Whoever was carrying me didn't seem to really care about my well being.

I couldn't figure out who or what had taken me, since it was still pretty dark. They didn't say a word to me. The only thing I could hear was my muffled screaming and the sound of the footsteps. Even though it was dark, I could tell that whoever carried me was tall; taller than me at least.

At last we reached a small clearing, and there was a small bonfire in the center. There were a few other dark figures, but they kept themselves well disguised from me, so I couldn't tell their race. I was brought to the edge of the clearing, and roughly placed on the ground. My attacker then tied my arms behind me around the base of a tree, and joined his fellow comrades around the fire.

I could hear them conversing in hushed tones, but still I couldn't figure out what language they were speaking. Suddenly, all three came over to me, and one bent down to lower the cloth that gagged me.

"You will be silent unless I address you," he said. He then held a knife to my throat. "Or else I will force your silence. Understood?"

I quickly nodded my head. So he was a man. Whether he was human or not, that was yet to be found out. I then saw that all three of them were wearing some sort of hood over their faces to shield them from my view.

"Who are you?" the first one asked me. He had a very authoritative tone to his voice.

"I..." I started. I didn't know whether to tell him my name or not. "I'm just a traveler."

"We know that, girl," he hissed. He placed the knife to my throat again. "What is your name?"

"S-Samantha," I choked out. The knife was starting to prod through the skin on my neck. I didn't dare move my head.

"Is there a surname that goes with that?" my attacker inquired.

I hadn't told anyone my last name when I got transported here. I figured it wouldn't be safe if anyone knew my whole name.

"I don't have one," I said.

"Liar!" The knife was being pushed even further into my throat now.

"Please, just let me go, I haven't done anything to you!" I pleaded with them.

"Hold your tongue!" he snarled. I stayed silent. "We have been following you for a little more than a week now, and we have seen you traveling with that other hobbit. We have figured out that he is Bilbo Baggins from The Shire, but we couldn't determine your name. No one had seen or heard of you before. Therefore we believe you to not be from this land. You come from somewhere else, is that true?"

"Yes," was all I could say. I had started to cry now. How had they found me out? And why did it matter to them?

"Where are you from?" he asked. The other two accomplices remained behind him, watching the exchange and standing as still as statues.

"I can't tell you," I squeaked out. I waited for another bite from the knife, but it never came.

"And why is that?"

I swallowed before I answered.

"Because I don't want to put my homeland at risk, if you are planning to infiltrate it."

He growled, and stood up. He paced in front of me for a few seconds, then stood in front of me again. He then surprised me by lowering his hood.

He was definitely a human. He had scraggly black hair that reached his shoulders, and his face was unshaven and menacing. He had black eyes that could look into your soul and make you feel like you were being violated. He was undoubtedly a man not to be trifled with.

"Well then, Samantha," he snarled at me. "I guess we'll just have to keep you our prisoner then."

Just then, any and every horrifying and disturbing thing I could think of that could be inflicted upon me flashed through my mind. I expected them to act upon at least some of them at any moment. But to my surprise and relief, they turned away and headed off into the forest, leaving me alone.

I was left with nothing but my thoughts for several hours. I watched the light from the sunrise gradually get brighter over the tops of the trees until it was late in the morning. I was starting to get hungry.

At about mid afternoon, the two accomplices returned, and proceeded to cook something over the bonfire. After eating, one of them came over to me, lowered my gag, and let me drink from a bowl. They had made some kind of soup, with some herbs and small meat chunks, though I couldn't tell what kind of meat. It wasn't a lot of soup, so I was left still hungry. At least I got something.

Soon afterward, they walked back into the forest, and I was left alone. I wondered where they had gone off to, what they were doing. I like to convince myself that I didn't want to know what they did with their time.

Nighttime fell, and I was getting really worried about Bilbo. I figured he must have noticed my absence by now. I hated to think that he was angry with me for deserting him again without telling him. I would have rather he return to his home than try to look for me. I didn't want him to run in with these dangerous men. If either of us had to be kidnapped and/or killed, I'd rather it was me.

Long after the sun went down, the three men returned. I had had to go to the bathroom for a while, but I didn't want to make them angry by making any noise loud enough for anyone other than them to hear. But once they were back, I tried to get their attention. I yelled through the gag until the leader came over to me, not looking happy in the least.

"What do you want?" he barked. He bent down and forcefully lowered the gag.

"I need to go to the bathroom," I said.

He groaned, then moved behind me to untie my hands.

He lifted me up, grabbed my forearm, and practically dragged me out into the forest. We stopped, and he shoved me towards a tree.

"Go behind there," he said. "If you try to run, I will know, and I will stop you."

I nodded in understanding, and made my way over to the other side of the tree. I finished up, and just as I was about to head back, I noticed a glowing light off in the distance, through the trees. It was too small for me to figure out what it was, but it sparked my curiosity.

"Hurry up!" my captor barked, and I made my way back over to him. He grabbed my arm again and led be back to the clearing.

He tied me back up, then rounded in front of me, and knelt.

"Now," he said, taking his knife back out of his belt and palming it. "We are going to try this again."

I gulped. Was he going to torture me now? I braced myself just in case. He pointed the knife at the base of my throat again.

"Where are you heading?" he asked threateningly.

"I told you, I'm trying to find my way back home," I said as bravely as I could.

"Yes, I know that. But where is your home? I know you're not from around here. You had to have come from somewhere outside of Middle-earth, but where?" His eyes were peering into my soul again, and I immediately felt uncomfortable.

"Far away," was all I could say. The last thing I wanted was for this asshole to know where I came from and somehow find a way to get to it.

"Just how far?" He started twirling the knife against my skin, and I could feel the sting of the blade cutting into it.

"Farther than you can ever imagine," I said coyly.

He grabbed me by the collar and pulled my face towards his. We were just a few inches apart, and he stank something awful.

"Don't get smart with me, girl," he snarled. "Tell me the name of the land from which you come."

I swallowed. I might as well just tell him. Maybe he was too stupid to find a way to it. And even then, if he was successful, what exactly could he do once he found his way? The police would have his ass in seconds.

"It's a place called Earth," I said.

"Earth..." he repeated, narrowing his eyes at me. He let go of my shirt and I dropped back to the ground. "And how are we to believe you?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "You're just going to have to take my word for it. But I come from a different planet, or realm, and it's called Earth. And it's solely inhabited by humans and various animals."

He raised an eyebrow at me.

"Then why do you have the appearance of a hobbit?" he asked warily.

I hated having to answer this question several times.

"I am really a human, on my home planet, but I was forcefully pulled through a portal of some kind, and turned into a hobbit. And now I am trying to find someone that could send me home," I explained.

"And what about this Bilbo Baggins you're traveling with? What is the significance of him?"

I swallowed hard. I couldn't let them track down Bilbo and do something horrible to him.

"He's just helping me, that's all. He's my guide." I answered.

The man sensed the note of worry in my voice and smiled menacingly.

"Oh, I think he's more than that," he hissed, and turned away. Oh no.

"Boys," he called out to the other two men sitting around the bonfire. "Go out and find me this Bilbo Baggins. Find him and bring him here. I think he could be of some use to us." At the end of that sentence he turned his head toward me, and smirked devilishly.

"No!" I screamed. I jerked my hands, but they were too tightly bound for me to move them. "Leave him alone!"

"You will shut your mouth," the leader came back over to me, and put the gag back over my mouth. I continued to scream through it, my words muffled and diluted. He turned back to me, and kicked me, hard, in my gut.

I fell forward, hunched over in my pain. I felt my hair being grabbed and yanked up. My scalp now screamed in pain.

"I said shut up," he said quietly but frighteningly near my ear before letting go of my hair. My head hit the bark of the tree, and I instantly felt dizzy. The world around me started to turn dark, and I still tried to plead with him to stop his henchmen from searching for Bilbo, but all that came out was whimpering before I ceased to hear or see anything.

I dreamed that I was back home, but instead of being by myself in my small apartment, Bilbo was there. I could see the two of us from afar, as if I was another person in the room. We were sitting on my couch, watching TV, and I was explaining to him what the TV was, and showing him all the shows and movies I like. Then I saw us eating a meal together at my kitchen table, smiling and laughing at my poor attempt at cooking something decent. And lastly, I could see us saying goodnight to each other and hugging. Then, we pull apart, look at each other, and I could feel my heart flutter as we both start leaning into each other, our faces almost touching-

"Wake up!"

I jerked myself into a sitting position, my eyes and ears instantly alert, my dream forgotten. The leader was standing alone right in front of me, peering down at me.

"My head..." I mumbled into the cloth.

"What's that?" he rudely asked me.

I shook my head, indicating I had said nothing. It appeared to have been in the late afternoon, judging by the position of the sun.

"We are moving to another part of the forest. The others know where we are headed and will join us later. Once they have found your little friend, of course," he said, again with a menacing smile.

He untied my hands and forced me to my feet. My head suddenly throbbed with pain, and I winced.

"Go on, move it!" he barked at me, and pushed me forward.

We headed into the forest. It wasn't too hard to figure out the direction in which we were heading. I could tell we were going southwest of where we just were. I had always made a note of where the sun rose and set, so I had gotten my bearings from that alone. We didn't walk for very long, but we found a spot that was much more secluded than the clearing had been. It was hidden by a thick patch of bushes, a lot of them with thorns.

My captor found a new tree for me to be tied to, and I resumed my position of sitting on the ground. At least I got to walk around for a little while. He cooked dinner, and fed the remains to me in the same fashion as before. It tasted exactly the same.

Several hours passed, and the other two didn't return until long after the sun went down.

"Well?" the leader asked as soon as the two others appeared.

"We couldn't find him," one said, and it was the first time I had heard any of them talk. It sounded just as rough and rugged as their leader's.

"Damn," the leader mumbled. "Well try again at first light, I'm sure he's out there somewhere. He couldn't have gotten far."

With that, they went into their designated sleeping area, which was out of my sight, and the night became silent. I sat against my tree, my mind wandering.

Something caught my eye. I looked over to my left, and once again saw the glowing light I had seen the night before. It was still far off, but I could tell it was following us. I had no idea what it could be, but nonetheless, I hoped that it could be the key to my escape.

The next morning, the two henchmen were sent out again to look for Bilbo, and I mentally kept my fingers crossed in the hope that they won't find him. I knew that since he's small, it's easy for him to hide and remain unseen. Nothing eventful happened for a while, and I was left feeling exceptionally bored. I had been held captive for a few days now, and what exactly did it accomplish? Not much, from what I observed.

I didn't know whether to regret telling them that I come from Earth or not. I wasn't in any circumstances telling them that we were looking for Gandalf. I didn't want to put him in any danger, especially before I even met him. I know that Gandalf can defend himself pretty well, but I would feel bad if someone came after him because of someone he's never even met before. I feared that he would turn me down if that happened.

Again I wondered about Bilbo. Was that him that I had seen those two times? I had thought it over all night, and realized that that light might have been his sword. Maybe that was his way of letting me know that he was on his way to rescue me. I didn't want to get my hopes up, though.

Later that day, the two henchmen showed up again, and to my relief, still without Bilbo. When their leader saw this, he stormed them in a fit of rage.

"I thought I told you to find that hobbit!" he yelled at them.

"We apologize, but we searched the whole forest for him. Even that tree house they had been staying in before. There was no trace. He probably went back home," one of them said in a calm monotonous voice.

The leader growled in exasperation and paced in front of them. He seemed to do that a lot when he was in unfavorable circumstances.

"Then look beyond the forest," he finally said to them. "See if he is headed toward Rivendell. Make sure not to cross their borders. If there is no trace, then look back in the other direction. We need to find him."

They bowed to him, and receded into the forest yet again. The man seemed to be seething in front of me. He turned to me and glared at me.

"This better not be your doing," he snarled, then made his way over to me. "What did you do?" He yanked off my gag.

"Nothing!" I said quickly. "I swear, I haven't had any contact with anyone."

"Stop lying to me," he barked, and lifted me by the hair again. "I'll teach you to lie to me," he mumbled. He lifted me up so that I was standing against the tree.

At this point, I was so frightened that I was shaking. There was no doubt in my mind that he was about to torture me now. He stood in front of me and looked me over.

Without warning, he punched me with full force in my abdomen. I hunched over, crying out in pain.

"Get up!" he shouted, and grabbed me by the hair again, yanking me back up.

Tears had formed in my eyes, but I couldn't speak a word. The wind was knocked out of me.

"WHERE IS HE?" he practically screamed in my face.

All I could do was shake my head. He punched me again. The air in my lungs hitched, and I tried gasping for breath.

"TELL ME!" he snarled, and this time, kicked me in the shin. If he would have kicked it any harder, I believe he would have broken it.

I was openly weeping now.

"Please," I gasped.

"WHERE IS THE HOBBIT?" he screamed again, and slapped me hard across the face. I was beyond crying out in pain now. There was so much of it that it hardly seemed like a shock when he did something new to me.

I was silent, save for trying to regain my breathing pattern. I thought I was going to die, right here and now. He might as well just kill me.

"I swear I will cut your throat if you don't tell me," he spat in my face.

"Do it," I breathed.

He stepped back, looking at me, then pulled out his knife and held it to my throat.

"With pleasure," he whispered.

I closed my eyes braced myself for what he was about to do. I thought of everything in my life that I had ever enjoyed.

There was a loud thud, and the knife left my throat. I opened my eyes to see that the man had been knocked over. Then I gasped when I saw who had hit him.

"Don't you touch her," Bilbo snapped at the man on the ground, his small sword Sting held out, pointing at my attacker's throat. Before the man could reply, Bilbo lifted the sword, and struck it down, deep into the man's chest.

There were a few gurgling sounds, then the form of my attacker ceased to move. He slumped down, his eyes staring unfocused at Bilbo.

Bilbo was stock still for several seconds, then he pulled the sword out of the lifeless body. He looked up at me, his eyes full of shock. I could tell that he wasn't used to killing anyone.

"I thought I lost you," he said, and his eyes began to water. He came over to me, and before I could say a word, he threw his arms around my neck. I was still in a lot of pain, but I didn't care at that moment, because my savior had come to rescue me. I cried tears of joy.


	7. A Sprint and A Climb

**Hello! I'm sorry I haven't been updating more frequently. I've still been dealing with writer's block, and I've been a bit busy as of late. I'll try my best to update sooner, but I can't make any promises.**

**Anyway, here is the next chapter. Enjoy!**

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Even though every part of me ached, we ran continuously through the forest. We were near enough to Rivendell now that we could get there in a matter of a few hours if we kept going. Somehow we were able to find the road that would lead us into a crevice between two mountains that would lead us to the Hidden Valley.

Bilbo had been holding my hand the whole time we were running, possibly because he was making sure I wouldn't falter or slow us down. I had stumbled quite a few times over some brush and twigs, and I was starting to get a bit light headed. That man had really done a number on me back there.

After running for what must have been twenty solid minutes, Bilbo finally pulled me off the side of the road to rest for a bit. I guess he had heard me wheezing behind him. We were behind a huge oak tree, so there was no way anyone could see us. We were both afraid that the two henchmen would be looking for us, and undoubtedly kill us once they would find the state of their master.

Both Bilbo and I were breathing very heavily from the running, but I seemed to be more affected by it than him. It took me several minutes for me to catch my breath. Once Bilbo had caught his, however, he took it upon himself to inspect me for any serious injury.

"Is there anywhere that you think might be broken?" he asked me as he felt my arms with his hands for any impurities.

"No," I gasped. "I think my bones are still intact for the most part. I'm just bruised and sore, that's all."

We were crouching down on the ground, and Bilbo had been wearing the same worried expression on his face the entire time we had been resting.

"Bilbo," I started, still gasping for air. He motioned for me to not talk, but I continued anyway. "No, you have to listen. I'm sorry I wandered off and got captured. I know I should have just told you but, again, I didn't want to wake you up. I didn't think going to the bathroom would be so dangerous."

"Samantha, it's alright, I don't blame you," he responded right away. He grabbed both of my hands in his and stared right into my eyes. "Neither of us would have known that someone was prowling you that night. Thank goodness I saw your necklace on the ground when I was searching for you the next morning. If it wouldn't have been for that, I would have never known you had been kidnapped."

"My necklace?" My hand instinctively went to my throat, and sure enough, my heart pendant that I always wore was gone. I hadn't even noticed.

"Here," Bilbo said, then pulled something out of his waistcoat pocket and held it out to me. It was my necklace, and the chain was broken. The pendant was still in good shape, so I could get a new chain whenever I would get the chance.

I took the necklace from Bilbo and put it into my own pocket. "Thank you," I said. By this time my breathing had mostly turned back to being normal. I still wanted to wait for another minute or so. My body just wasn't used to running around for so much or so long.

"Bilbo," I said suddenly. "Who exactly were those men?"

"I don't know," he said. "They're probably rangers. Freelancers. Some have good intent, while others, like these blokes, obviously don't."

"They know I'm from another world," I said quietly. "How is that possible? How would they know that? They said they had been following us for a whole week. What do they want with me?"

Bilbo frowned. "I don't know, Samantha. But I'm sure we can seek help and shelter from the elves. Lord Elrond might know who they might be."

"You killed the leader," I said. "The two henchmen might find other reinforcements to avenge him or something. This could start a whole war!"

"Calm down," Bilbo said, grabbing my shoulders. "Don't worry about that right now. We need to focus on getting to Rivendell, and in doing so, finding Gandalf."

I nodded. I needed to stop being so pessimistic all the time.

We both stood up, then checked the road to see if it was clear. We didn't see anyone, or anything, so we continued on, but we didn't run like before. We were walking very briskly, though.

We walked for about an hour, until we started to climb some rocky hills into one of the mountains. There was a crevice somewhere above us that would lead us to Rivendell. How far it was from us, I didn't know.

I found it impossible to climb quickly. I had tried rock climbing a few years back, and I constantly slipped on the hand and foot holds. Climbing just wasn't my thing. Luckily, we weren't climbing at a really steep angle, so I was able to at least hold onto things and not fall. But my arms and legs just didn't want to move hastily so we took our time.

Bilbo was ahead of me, and he would end up going a few yards up, notice I wasn't right behind him, then wait until I got to where he was. Apparently he was a more experienced climber than I was. I found this quite odd, since he was a hobbit, and hobbits don't usually climb anything. They even find stairs a challenge for them. I didn't say anything about it to him, though.

My hands were starting to go raw from constantly grabbing stone and rock. My muscles were still sore, and getting more and more so by the minute. I didn't want to complain. I had caused enough trouble as it was.

At one point, after we had climbed about thirty feet up, my hands were feeling pretty numb, and when I went to grab a piece of rock for a hand hold, I lost the grip and slipped. I screamed, thinking I was about to plummet to my death.

Bilbo was above me in an instant. He grabbed my hand, pulling me up as gently and quickly as he could. He was able to grab my other hand, and hoisted me up onto the ledge. I almost started sobbing from the fright. I took a few deep breaths, and we resumed climbing.

"Why don't you go first, that way, if you fall, I'll be right behind you to catch you," Bilbo suggested.

"Alright. But I'm warning you, I move at a snail's pace," I said as I continued to climb.

"Oh, don't worry, I'm already aware of that," I heard him mutter behind me.

"Hey!" I turned my head around to him, and when he saw my expression of mock hurt, he laughed loudly. I couldn't help but laugh with him myself.

I was true to my word, and we climbed at a snail's pace. Bilbo seemed like he didn't mind, but I could tell that he wanted to go faster. Well, tough. He was the one who wanted to stay behind me.

It was turning to dusk by the time we spotted the entrance to the crevice. I asked Bilbo how long it would take to get to Rivendell once we entered the mountain. He told me a few hours, so we decided to camp within the mountain before entering the elven town.

You could not measure my relief when I finally grabbed onto the last piece of rock and hoisted myself into the hole in the side of the mountain. I had to sit and catch my breath for a minute or two as Bilbo pulled up next to me.

We sat together, just the two of us, silently looking out at the wilderness we had already seen on our journey. The forest had seemed like it went on forever, but seeing it from this angle, it actually looked quite small. I swallowed when I realized that there were two dangerous men out there possibly looking for me.

I stood up, and we made our way into the crevice. It was a lot like a cave in some ways, with the occasional dripping noise off in the distance. We found a good enough spot, and settled down go to sleep.

Bilbo said we shouldn't light a fire, lest we be seen. It was cold, so even though I valued our safety, I could have really done for a warm fire right then.

After I had settled into my pajamas and laid down to sleep, I saw that Bilbo was still in his clothes and sitting several feet away, as if he was waiting for something.

"What are you doing?" I asked him.

"I'm keeping watch," he announced without turning toward me.

"But, aren't you tired?" I sat up, looking at him.

"I am, but our safety is more important than sleep," he said, and his voice echoed around me in the shallow cave.

"Well, should I take over for you sometime later?" I asked.

I saw him shake his head. "No, you go ahead and sleep. I'll just stay up. It won't take us long to reach Rivendell tomorrow, so I could rest when we get there."

I was silent for a few seconds. For a hobbit, Bilbo seemed to be something pretty extraordinary. I couldn't imagine any of the other hobbits in The Shire to do anything like this. Those adventures he had must have really changed him.

"Alright," I finally said, then laid back down. It sure felt good to be laying on the ground instead of tied to a tree. Within a few minutes, I was fast asleep.

Bilbo woke me up by shaking my shoulder gently.

"We need to go," he said. I opened my eyes and saw that he had dark circles under his. He really did stay up the whole night.

I quickly got up, got dressed, and we were ready to go within a few minutes. We continued on through the crevice, going at a steady pace. I felt sorry for Bilbo. I hoped that we would get to Rivendell soon so that he could get some rest.

"So how did it go last night?" I asked him. "Any intruders?"

"No," he said wearily. "I thought I saw some movement at the edge of the forest, but I think it was just a squirrel."

"We should still be careful," I said, and Bilbo just nodded his head in agreement.

We stayed silent for most of the time while walking through the cave. I figured it would be easier on Bilbo. I know for a fact when I'm lacking sleep I tend to be really cranky and the slightest noise could set me off. I didn't know if Bilbo was the same way, but I was careful not to make him angry nonetheless.

The crevice didn't go on for long, and before I knew it, we were approaching an opening up ahead. My heart beat increased. I would get to see Rivendell, one of my all time favorite places in Middle-earth. Anytime I would think of it, I would hear the music that plays whenever you see it, both in _The Lord of the Rings _and _The Hobbit_. Thank you, Howard Shore.

With this anticipation in mind, I started to move faster. I passed Bilbo, and he eyed me in an odd way. Before long I was practically running. I wanted to see Rivendell so badly. I was almost at the entrance, and I could see the bright light shining through.

"Samantha, wait!" I heard Bilbo shout, but I took no heed. I _had_ to see the sight on the other side at all costs.

I reached the entrance, and took one step outside. That is when I felt a blow to my head.

I fell to the ground, and my face had hit a jagged piece of rock pretty harshly. This didn't matter however, since I had to turn around and defend myself. I did, and only had a second to see two hooded figures advancing toward me before they hit me on the head again.

Before they could do any more damage, Bilbo came running out of the cave, wielding his sword.

"Leave her alone!" he shouted, swinging Sting threateningly at them.

"Ah, look, her little boyfriend is here to save the day," one of the men said tauntingly. The other laughed.

"You let her go right now, and leave us be, or I will kill you where you stand!" Bilbo said confidently. He had his sword pointed and fixed at them, daring them to make a move. I have to say, it was a pretty sad sight, with two large men towering over one lone hobbit with a little sword. I had to help him.

I quietly stumbled to my feet, and pulled out my own sword. I snuck up behind the both of them; neither of them seemed to realize I was there.

"We know what you did to our master," one of the men was saying to Bilbo. "And we don't really appreciate that. So we're going to take you and your little girlfriend to our fellow comrades, and you will be sorry you ever killed one of us."

Comrades? What comrades? Did he mean other rangers?

"I just want you to leave us alone," Bilbo responded, rather weakly now.

The men laughed again, and started advancing toward him.

I took my chance and leaped forward, slicing my sword every which way until it met with flesh.

They quickly noticed my presence behind them, and at the same time, Bilbo started to slash away with Sting. They didn't know which one of us to attack, and it took them forever to figure out that they could split off and have them fight us one to one. Not very bright, these men were.

Even though they had about three feet on us and bigger swords, Bilbo and I kept on defending ourselves against these miscreants. I was grateful that now that I was a hobbit, I could move very quickly and lightly to avoid being slashed by my attacker's sword. Before long I had cut his left calf, his right forearm, and almost stabbed him in the torso. Of course he blocked me from that.

I noticed that Bilbo was doing a good job as well. Neither of us had been injured from them, and we were both slowly inching our way towards the trail that would lead us to Rivendell.

At one point, Bilbo and I made eye contact, and we both instantly knew what the other was thinking.

At the same time, we both sliced our attacker's torso, and they miraculously didn't defend themselves. They both doubled over in pain, and we took that chance to start bolting.

We were running as fast as we could down the hill that would take us into Rivendell. I looked behind me and saw that our attackers were still up where we left them. We must have injured them pretty badly. I looked back in front of me and saw the sight I had longed to see for quite some time now.

There, below us was Rivendell, in all its beauty and glory. It nearly took my breath away to see it in person. It looked exactly like in the movies, though I should have expected that by now.

I didn't have much time to marvel at the town's beauty, since we were still running at top speed down the side of the mountain. There was a thin trail jutting out from the side of the mountain, and I was afraid that one wrong step would mean the death of either of us.

We seemed to make it down okay, but when we were nearing the bottom, I heard shouting from behind me. I turned and saw the two men, running as fast as they could after us. They were gaining on us pretty quickly.

"Bilbo, they're getting closer!" I shouted to Bilbo, and he turned to see them too. He then grabbed my hand.

"Move, Samantha!" he yelled back to me, and we increased our pace. We were almost there. I'm sure if we got close enough, the elves would defend us.

We reached the bottom of the mountain and the winding trail, and sprinted for our lives for the entrance into Rivendell. The men were still gaining on us, and they seemed mere yards away. I inwardly prayed that they wouldn't catch us.

We were just about to cross into the entrance when I felt something pull on my foot. I hit the ground, and looked behind me to see that one of the men had leaped and grabbed my foot. Bilbo had continued running for a few feet before realizing what had happened, and started coming back to help me.

"Let me go!" I shouted, shaking my foot as hard as I could, but his grasp didn't loosen.

"You're mine now, missy," I heard him grunt as he started to pull me away from Rivendell and Bilbo.

I started screaming now, and Bilbo was coming to attack them with his sword, but the other man had now caught up, and knocked Bilbo to the ground with his elbow. We were doomed.

Just then, the sound of a horn rang out and echoed against the hills. Within seconds, I heard the sound of horse's hooves getting louder and louder. I couldn't turn around to look, but I was pretty sure I knew who was coming to help.

The man holding onto me let go and stood up, brandishing his sword. Bilbo's attacker also got into a defensive stance, and that's when I was able to turn around and see about a dozen manned horses charging towards us. I had never felt so relieved in my life.

The horses started to circle around the men, and I saw the elves who were riding had their bows and arrows ready and aimed at them. The two men looked quite frightened, to say the least.

Then one single manned horse came up to the men, and I instantly recognized the rider as Lord Elrond.

"You will leave these hobbits be and go on your way from this place," he said in a booming, authoritative voice.

The men were silent. I could tell they were debating if they should challenge them or not.

"These hobbits killed our master!" one of them shouted.

Lord Elrond seemed to eye them, as if trying to recognize them.

"Ah, so these hobbits killed Tiranius, did they? Well even though I'm sure there was a logical reason why they did so, I can understand why you would be angry. It is pointless to try to avenge your master now, especially since he was so corrupt in his dealings with my kinsfolk. I suggest you leave now, while you still have a chance."

There was silence all around us; the elves were poised to release their arrows, the men were conflicted with what they should do, and Bilbo and I held our breath to see what would happen. The last thing I wanted to witness was a blood bath.

The men looked at each other, and subtly nodded.

"We will retreat," one of them growled. "But know this: we will be meeting with our fellow comrades, and we can raise hell against you elves."

"I suggest you hold your tongue, else you lose it," Lord Elrond said cooly, and the men fell silent again. Then, without another word, they turned on their heels and ran back up into the mountain. I released the breath I had been holding. Thank God they were gone.

Lord Elrond hopped off his horse and came over to where Bilbo and I stood.

"Are you alright?" he asked. He had a very soothing voice when he wanted to use it. Otherwise, he could sound extremely terrifying as well.

"I'm alright, but my friend here might be in need of some medical attention," said Bilbo.

"I'm fine," I argued, but Elrond bent down to look into my eyes intensely.

"It looks as though she might have a concussion," Elrond said. "Come, we will tend to you."

"How does he know that I have a concussion?" I whispered to Bilbo, but he just shrugged his shoulders.

Without warning, I was lifted off the ground, and placed onto a horse. It was Lord Elrond, and he had placed me in front of him on the saddle. I felt like a child riding with her dad.

Then I saw that Bilbo had been lifted onto a horse as well, and he looked just as confused as I was.

"Onward," Lord Elrond called from behind me, and the elves on their horses fell into formation perfectly and with ease as we rode into the beautiful and glittering town of Rivendell.


End file.
